don't like that idea. we can't afford andy harris' idea. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. going once, going twice, sold to a mystery bidder. the towson commons auctioned off this afternoon. the near empty building fetched

more than $20 million, it may be going, going, gone but gone to who? >> third and final call at $20 million. any more? >> reporter: the towson commons goes to a mystery bidder. the defunct retail property now belongs to this man or who he represents. he made the successful bid and signed the paperwork but didn't identify himself to the media or bother to make a comment. the auctioneer was under the same instruction leaving onlookers and the county puzzled as to the future of the commons. >> at this point it's a private transaction so we respect the process and just like you were curious to know who the purchaser is, that is just part of the private process. >> reporter: at some point the county will find out and begin negotiateses on the buyer's vision for towson commons. a property that did attract many potential bidders this afternoon, who were more than forward with their plans to transform the building and the york road corridor.

>> people that i represented were interested in making that area between the circle and towson university more of a folk -- folk at point. >> reporter: some guesses by those experienced at automatictions are that the original lender on the property bought the property back to make a private sale, no matter the scenario though, baltimore county continues watching closely. >> this is part of a process, orderly i hope but part of a process that gets us to the point where we can consider what exactly would be the best fit for that location. >> reporter: hoping whoever just spent $28.5 million will do so wisely. in towson, brian kuebler, abc2 news. >> the mill in canton is also expected to be auctioned off next month. it will go on the block october 20th. the owner says the auction is

"a business decision." it includes the 5,900 square foot building, liquor license and the business. two auctions take place, one for the business and liquor license, the other for the building. the bar and restaurant opened up in 1997. weatherwise today, beautiful stuff. i mean, this was the last full day of summer, 2010. fall starts tomorrow night. and we're looking at actually some warmer weather to kick off the first days of fall. let's look first at how clear it is up and down the east coast now. from baltimore all the way through raleigh-durham, back up through boston, you name it, just crystal clear, there's a little weather up towards chicagoland but overall, just a breeze blowing from the southeast. temperaturewise, mid-70s to low eights to the west. we'll cool off into the 70s and into the 60s later this evening under a nice clear sky. mild and breezy is the story. in the next few days, a dramatic warm-up. we'll talk about that and tell you how hot it gets, coming up.

friends and family will tend a viewing tonight for joseph d'entremont. it is 6:00 at the mountain christian church in joppa. the 14-year-old was struck and killed by a car friday night in bel air. a second viewing will be tomorrow at the mountain christian church from 10:00 a.m. to noon. the funeral will follow. a public library in frederick has a case of the bedbugs. it was spotted in a book friday. exterminators will treat all the county's eight libraries, two book mobiles and delivery van. a total of five books turned up and the library notified the patron who dropped them off. president obama held a towbl meeting today -- town hall meeting today, the message is this, give democrats time to fix the economy. in a new poll 23% say for the economy to recover democrats should control congress, 26% say the republicans, nearly half, some 47% say well, it doesn't matter.

and half of all americans say the american dream is still possible, 43% say it's not going to happen. our look at news around the nation begins in kentucky where a man accused of killing his wife says caffeine made him do it. woody smith is charged with strangling his 27-year-old wife amanda hornsby smith with an extension cord in may of 2009. he claims he was high on caffeine, because he was afraid she would leave him and take the kids so he didn't want to fall asleep. prosecutors say there was no proof he had caffeine in his system. if convicted he faces life in prison. the washington state woman who claims a stranger attacked her with acid is in serious trouble tonight. an arrest was issue for betthany storro. last week she confessed to disfiguring her own face with acid in an attempt to kill herself. that didn't work so she thought a new face would be the answer to all her problems. >> i think the right thing to do was to file the charges i filed. i think the evidence supports the filing of these felony

theft charges. and i think the criminal justice system needs to react and is reacting. >> lots of people raised money to help her when the news of the alleged attack first broke. prosecutors now charge her with three counts of second degree theft for using that money to buy tickets, clothing, train tickets. even the recent facial peels. she is in the hospital. the governor of wisconsin calls for the resignation of a state prosecutor after sending tess messages to the -- text messages to the case he was handling. stephanie van grohl was nearly choked to death by her ects boyfriend, while prosecuting her case last wall the wisconsin da and chairman of the crime victims' rights board began sending her dozens of sexual text messages. she reported the harassment to the police who turned it over

to the wisconsin department of justice. in an e-mail he told the department he was just complimenting her. he refusioned fusion -- refused to resign. victim'sed a soacts are outraged. >> the prosecutor is supposed to do justice to protect her from that kind of behavior. and he's doing the same thing! it's craziness. >> the governor says he will try to remove the prosecutor. you got to see this video out of brazil. spectators were enjoying a car race sunday when that happened. right there. the stand collapsed. hundreds of people had to be rescued from under the structure. more than 120 people were injured. authorities say structural faults may have caused the collapse but they are investigating the exact cause. a small town with big paychecks. sends its officials to prison. we've got the latest on the multimillion-dollar scandal, plus millions of unemployed folks aren't jumping back into the work force just yet. that is their choice.

we'll tell you why.

if they have their way, we're facing a mountain of debt and a massive tax increase. employers will continue to leave our state, taking their jobs with them. the next four years will impact the next decade, so we've put together a road map to 2020. a plan that brings jobs back to maryland by reducing spending and lowering taxes. let's make the maryland we love not just good, but great. now let's get down to work.

millions of americans are jobless but that doesn't mean they'll take whatever they can get. 15 million americans are unemployed and the government says there are only three

million open jobs. but get this, a surprising number of people are actually turning down job offers, according to careerbuilder, taking time to find a job that is a good fit. 17% of the unemployed receive a job offer since losing their previous job, a whopping 9 % of them re-- 92% of them rejected the offer. the in number one reason why, the pay was way too low. and we're working to help you get back to work. if you want your resume on our web site or on the air send an e-mail to bestresumes@wmar.com. with a microsoft word attachment. we'll call you to come in and tape a 20-second video pitch. we'll pet the best on the air and our web site. a baltimore landmark gets a new name thanks to a huge contribution, we'll tell you the new name and look at the expansion of the former lyric. plus, who will stay and who will go, the first night of "dancing with the stars" coming up. we'll look back at the first

night and how one star proved you can't keep baby in the corner.

tax on everything you buy? that's in andy harris' unfair tax plan. 23% sales tax. a 23% sales tax will cut my business in half. would be devastating. andy harris' 23% sales tax absolutely makes no sense. 23% sales tax would really make things unaffordable. that's too high for the average american out here. i don't know how we would manage it really. don't like that idea. we can't afford andy harris' idea. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message.

the original news reports were upsetting. city officials of a suburban l.a. city lavishly overpaid themselves at a multimillion-dollar ripoff of their constituents. the people fought back and many of the same officials are scrambling to make bail. here's diana avillar. >> reporter: from city leaders to suspected felons. eight former bell city officials were arrested overnight charged with embezzleling more than $5 million of taxpayer money. >> we used the tax -- you used the tax dollars as your own piggy bank, they then lewded it at will. >> reporter: the ringleader, robert rizzo, paid nearly $1 million to manage a city of just 40,000.

city council members paid themselves more than six figures. prosecutors say they billed the city for meetings that never happened and took thousands more in elicit loans. >> many illegal loans were secured by the beyond exorbitant benefit packages. >> shame on you, all of you! >> reporter: when the scandal broke two months ago bell citizens were outraged. 17% of them live below the poverty line and lines form each week outside the food bank. >> every wednesday is at hand, yes. very excited because justice has prevailed. >> reporter: last week the california attorney general filed suit against several of those arrested. he wants their pay contracts voided and much of their salaries paid back. records show there are several more city workers that receive exorbitant salaries. the los angeles county district attorney says tuesday's arrests were just the beginning and that many more may follow. all eight will be arraigned tomorrow. the prosecutor requested no one

be allowed to post bail until they are allowed to examine the source of the funding. diana avillar, abc news, los angeles. i noticed in one of the pictures you had on the screen a lot of folks are on boats today. they want to enjoy it before they have to put it up for the winter. >> today's technically our last full day of summer. fall comes tomorrow night. the first days of fall at the end of this week we see temperatures rising. still a few more days to get the boat out. probably a few more weeks, actually. that's good. let's look outside now. beautiful afternoon. that is the bottom line. just gorgeous weather. 75 degrees right now out at bwi marshall. humidity a comfortable 43%. winds southeast at 10, that is a bill of a wind shift from the north breeze we had yesterday and even into the overnight last night. that south wind is going to

keep going the next few days, too. baltimore, sunny skies all day today. just a fantastic, sunny and beautiful day for the last full day of summer, 2010. similar scenario toward howard county, great-looking weather. as we look at some of the highs today, really depending where you are but the bottom line, talking about mid to upper 70s from arnold through westminster, bel air 79. current temperatures have dropped off a bit here. we're talking maybe mid to low 70s, we'll quickly be dropping into the 60s here over the next couple of hours. but on the whole not bad. winds relatively quiet around 5 miles per hour. highs across the board today, running in the upper 70s, our average high this time of year will be 77. so we're just about there, statewide today. a little warmer just to our south and west. and winds, again, have been pretty steady out of the south and southeast today. humidity comfortably low but that will climb over the next couple of days. let's get into it. there's really not a lot of

weather in our area to talk about. clear skies, maryland, delaware, virginia, back up through pennsylvania and new jersey not seeing much. zoom out wider and still not seeing much until you get way out into, like, western michigan, chicago up through minneapolis. they are getting another weathermaker. the thing is the track of this particular system brings it down south and east. a glancing blow for maryland and project north again. we think the slightest chance of showers, the best chance is tomorrow night but that will be a slight chance. in the meantime, high pressure controls. sinking air, not a cloud in the sky today or tonight. into the day tomorrow we'll start off sunny with a strong south breeze, highs going to move further out to sea allowing that south wind flow to kick in. that disturbance will come through but in a very minimal way. again tomorrow evening we may see showers, maybe a thunderstorm. our forecast model, we'll stop it at 6:00, that is the disturbance, it will brush maryland and kick north into new jersey and beyond.

so a slight chance of showers mainly, especially to the west of us and into thursday, i think just partly cloudy. tropics relatively quiet. tropical storm lisa just thousands of miles away off of the african coast here, beginning to show some organization. tonight, talking about a clear cold night. 57, not as chilly as last night with widespread 40s. 87 tomorrow, your 2-degree guarantee, many spots will stay around 85 but we think the city gets to 87. tomorrow night the chance of showers, 66. clearing overnight. and your 7-day forecast, again, the trend is going to be for great-looking weather here but getting warmer, into the first days of fall. in fact, thursday and friday, back close to 90 before a cold front comes in this weekend. the 11th season of this show, "dancing with the stars," has begun and already the dirty dancing star cleaned up. meantime, three of the couples are tied for last place. so we turn to that guru of all dancing, abc's george pinocchio to see who may go home tonight.

>> reporter: actress jennifer grey and her partner are the judge's favorites this week, scoring triple 80s for the elegant viennese waltz. >> it's not the jennifer gray i met in rehearsals. >> no? >> you just wanted to get through the dance. >> that's all i tried to do. that's what happened. >> reporter: one point behind and tied for second between kyle massey and brandi. it's on. >> tied for second? >> next week we'll be leading! oh. bring it. >> i'm just going to do a lot more listening to matt if we get voted. >> week one. >> i really mean it. >> reporter: one point behind them in fourth place, a very competitive rick fox. >> we're looking for people to get behind us and looking to be the best. >> reporter: audrina and her partner are fifth on the leaderboard but they are not alone, tied with kurt warner and his partner. >> i look forward to every rehearsal. i get to see a smiling face.

she's willing to work as hard as i push her. we want to have fun and perform and get it under our belt and hopefully we'll be back next week and get another shot. >> reporter: 19-year-old bristol palin tied for seventh place with 76-year-old florence henderson. >> i'm definitely feeling more confident than i was three weeks ago. i think we're going up from here. i think it was a fun performance. i think we did well. >> reporter: the biggest surprise of the night was the florence henderson flash. >> and this one. somebody had to take the situation down a notch. >> reporter: but before we get to him, michael bolton landed in ninth place. >> i think one thing we've learned tonight is to just relax and enjoy it and to smile. >> reporter: hoping to smile for another week, margaret cho, mike the situation and david hasselhoff all tied for last scoring triple 5s. >> i gave everything that i have. and he knows it to be true. >> he incouraged her to go out

in front of millions of people with five days of prep. >> in heels and tight pants and rhinestones. >> i'm 58, baby. i'll feel it tonight but i feel great. it was a lot of fun. >> reporter: the dancing is done for week one, now time to worry because one of the 12 couples will not make it through to week two. and we'll find out who during tonight's results show on abc. in los angeles, abc news. >> you may find out who stays and who goes, maybe on the tractor, who knows? as we wait for the results show. the two-hour special starts at 8:00 tonight followed by the debut of "detroit 187" at 10:00. abc2 was there when the ladies of girls hope moved into their new home in baltimore in july. thanks to "extreme makeover." an action-packed nine days as work crews pulled out all the stops to get the home done. we can't show you the inside yet until the show airs on sunday but you can catch the

special about the extreme build right here on abc2 from 6:00 to 7:00. then stay tuned for abc2's two-hour "extreme home makeever," airs from 7:00 to 9:00. celebrating a big name and baltimore landmark. the lyric will now be called the patricia and arthur modell performing arts center. in honor of their support of the expansion project. the former owner of the ravens and his wife included more than $3 million. >> and when i saw what we could do from here on with just some help i said, art, we've got to do it because i love the theater. i always have. it brings great joy to people. >> the expansion project creates a number of improvements including enlarging the stage and modernizing the theater's

technical systems. it's expected to be completed by fall of 2011. now with a look ahead to abc2 news at 6:00. i'm kelly swoope. a dpreek ship liner -- greek ship liner is fined millions for dumping sludge into the ocean and one of the stops was in baltimore. tonight, we're going to hear from the feds and how they caught the polluter. millions of adults deal with painful arthritis everyday but what if your child was diagnosed with the debilitating disease.xd hear one family's battle. those stories and much more coming up. ♪ storyteller: the itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. down came the rain and clogged the gutter system creating a leak in the roof. luckily, the spider recently had geico help him with homeowners insurance. water completely destroyed his swedish foam mattress. he got full replacement. and now owns the sleep number bed. his sleep number is 25.

call geico and see how much you could save on homeowners insurance.

a umass student used his artistic

talents. he built a boat shaped like a couch to float along the connecticut river. he was cheered on by friends and spectators when he floated by a bridge in north hampton. the ride began in hatfield and ended in north hampton. the creative approach allows for a comfortable rest when he gets tired of paddling but there's no cushions in the couch. they are snapping, singing and dancing in baltimore county. in moments, how hundreds of students get inspired by youtube video and take action. abc2 news at 6:00 starts right now. the feds find the owners of a greek flagship. millions of dollars for dumping thousands of gallons of oil and sludge into the ocean. good evening, i'm kelly swoope. a federal judge fined eureka shipping more than $4 million after crew members told authorities in baltimore about the widespread illegal dumping. roosevelt leftwich has more.